Implementing Change Through Training: A Case Study

Abstract

In July of 1976, the CUNY Urban Academy and the New York City Office of Management and Budget applied for and received a training grant from the United States Civil Service Commission under the provisions of the Intergovernmental Personnel Act. The purpose of the training was to support the implementation of the City's new Management Plan and Reporting System (MP/R) in six local agencies. The Urban Academy had been created in 1974 as a cooperative effort between the City University of New York and the City of New York to provide management related training and technical assistance to local government employees. The Office of Management and Budget, part of the Mayor's Executive Office, had been given ultimate responsibility for implementing the City's new management system throughout thirty mayoral agencies. The grant proposal called for an initial pilot program in the City Department of Sanitation and the subsequent performance of similar training in five other agencies. Because of the size and complexity of that department, the Sanitation project turned out to be the most comprehensive program in the entire effort. It also proved to be the most successful. The purpose of this article is to describe the pilot program in the Department of Sanitation. It is presented as a case study which documents the notion that management training can be used as an effective instrument for overcoming bureaucratic passivism and/or resistance to change in the implementation of a new administrative policy, program, or system. While the New York City Sanitation Department is considerably larger than most local government agencies throughout the nation, the problems of implementing change in a bureaucratic environment are comparable among most public organizations, whether they be found at the local, state, or federal level. Thus, the following case study is intended to serve as a lesson to all public administrators on the value of training as a vehicle for implementation in the government service.